Cazenove Family Papers (MS212)

Collection

Identifier: MS212

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection covers the history of the Cazenove Family of Alexandria from the 1790s to the 1970s. The first part of the collection features records from James O’Hara Cazenove (1880-1971), consisting primarily of correspondence and records relating to his business interests and investments, as well as legal documents and business related litigation. Some of the correspondence and notebooks relate to his role as an inventor including a patent for an improved eggbeater from the 1920s. It also includes records from his brother, Louis A. deCazenove (1851-1925), primarily related to his education at Cornell University.

The Second part of the collection concerns the earlier generations of the family focusing on James O’Hara’s father and grandfather, both named Louis A. Cazenove (1807-1852 and 1851-1925), and his great grandfather Anthony Charles Cazenove (1775-1852). Researchers should be cautious about the reuse of family names, as there are two Anthony Charles’ and three Louis A.s.

The second part consists primarily of correspondence and early business records from Alexandria, including early ledgers and receipts as well as legal documents such as deeds. There are also early passports relating to international travel and documents about the consular positions held by A.C. Cazenove in the early 19th century. There is also a family history in French from 1872.

Both parts of the collection include the records of estates, trusts, and guardianships, as wealth passed from one generation to the next.

Dates

1786 - 1970

Creator

Cazenove Family (Family)

Biographical Note

Anthony Charles Cazenove (1775-1852) was born in Geneva, Switzerland. Imprisoned during the revolution, he immigrated to the United States in 1794 and went into business with Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He married Ann Hogan of Philadelphia (1776-1843), and moved to Alexandria, Virginia where he established Cazenove and Co. The couple had 10 children.

Paul Charles Cazenove (1799-1801) died in childhood. Charles John Cazenove (1801-1834) married Sarah Greenleaf of Boston to whom a letter from A. C. Cazenove survives. Paulina Cazenove (1806-1891) married John Fowle. Charlotte Cazenove (1812-1836) married North Carolina Congressman William B. Shepard. Octavius Anthony Cazenove (1813-1841). Harriet Cazenove (1817-1861) who married Gazaway Lamar of Georgia (1798-1874).

Ann Maria Cazenove (1803-1859) married General Archibald Henderson. Their daughter Charlotte married into the DuPont family.

Eliza Frances Cazenove (1798-1857) married William C. Gardner (1791-1844) their children included Constance T. Gardner (1820-1849) who married Maryland Congressman Henry Winter Davis (1817-1865) and Anne Eliza Gardner (1819-1885), who married Cassius F. Lee (1808-1890).

William Gardner Cazenove (1819-1877) married Mary Elizabeth Stanard (1822-1892) and had a son named Anthony Charles Cazenove (1849-1897). William took over management of Cazenove and Co. in partnership with Lee and was later the guardian for one of the Gardner children.

Louis Albert Cazenove (1807-1852) married Frances Ansley (1820-1847) in 1837 and had Frances E. Cazenove (1838-1884) and Charlotte Louise Cazenove (1840-1914). He later remarried to Harriett Stuart Turberville (1823-1896) of the Lee family and had a son named Louis A. Cazenove (1851-1925). Cassius F. Lee became the guardian of these children after 1852.

Louis A. Cazenove (b 1851) married Mary O’Hara and had two sons. Louis A. DeCazenove (1878-1852) who changed his last name to an older Swiss version worked as a chemical Engineer at Dupont and married Edith Patton Cazenove. James O’Hara Cazenove (1880-1971) was an inventor, engineer, and investor, and was considered the last of the family.

Extent

8.06 Linear Feet (15 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is divided into two sub-fonds, the first consisting of records from James O’Hara Cazenove and his son and the second apparently collected by his father covering himself and the older part of the family.

The correspondence and business records in both are divided into different subseries, reflecting an effort to keep business affairs separate from family correspondence. Much of the correspondence in the O’Hara part of the collection is arranged by correspondent or alphabetically and then chronologically. In the second sub-fonds most of the correspondence is chronological apart from the Stanard and Craig family correspondence having been separated from other family correspondence at some point in time.

Certain records deemed fragile or valuable were separated from the older material at some point and have been listed at the end of series but not necessarily in chronological order as that would have placed the items within separately listed folders.

Subfonds 1: James O’Hara Cazenove, 1873-1970

Series 1: Correspondence, 1902-1970

Subseries: Family Correspondence Personal Correspondence Business Correspondence Legal Correspondence Series 2: Financial Documents

Series 3: Legal Documents

Series 4: Inventions

Series 5: Personal Records

Series 6: Printed Material

Series 7: Miscellaneous

Series 8: Louis A. DeCazenove

Subfonds 2: Louis A. Cazenove, 1786-1946

Series 1: Correspondence

Series 2: Business

Subseries: Business Records Records Books

Deeds

Estates and Guardianships

Series 3: Legal Documents, 1786-1926

Series 4: Printed

Series 5: News Clippings

Series 6: Miscellaneous

Series 7: Photos

Related Materials

MS293 contains a ledger from Cazenove and Co. dated 1857-1861 when it was managed by William Gardner Lee, the son of A. C. Cazenove, and Cassius F. Lee. Duke University holds records of Cazenove and Co for 1860-1868 including a list of debtors.

MS240 contains a number of Cazenove related documents including:

Two letters of A.C. Cazenove, one undated detailing the surrender of Alexandria in August 1814 and the other to Sarah E. Greenleaf in 1826. (MS240, box 10).

An 1874 certificate of Louis A. Cazenove (b. 1851) from the University of Virginia (MS240, oversize 2)

3 stock certificates of A.C. Cazenove for the Middle Turnpike Company (1831), Alexandria Steam Ferry Company (1839), and Alexandria Marine Railway Company (1849-1851) (MS240, box 6)

There are also receipts for Mrs. Harriot E. Cazenove (1823-1896), the widow of Louis A. Cazenove (d. 1852), from Wise and Co Insurance Agents (1889) (MS240, box 5) and Smoot and Co (1894-1896) (MS240 box 4).

The Winterthur Museum of Winterthur Delaware also holds the “Cazenove-Lee Family Papers” (Col. 83) which contains extensive records of A. C. Cazenove and the early history of the family. This primarily covers the 18th century including in Switzerland.

The Library of Congress also holds a number of manuscript letters from A.C. Cazenove to President James Madison.